Royal Prerogative

Question 1

What is the Prerogative? - Dicey

Answer 1

‘…the residue of discretionary or arbitrary authority, which at any time is legally left in the hands of the crown… every act which the executive government can lawfully do without the authority of an act of parliament’

Question 2

suspending power

Answer 2

• power to ‘suspend’ the application of an act of parliament or a provision from an act of parliament;

Question 3

dispensing power

Answer 3

• power to ‘dispense’ with the application of an act of parliament in relation to named individuals or groups

Question 4

AG v De Keyser’s Royal Hotel

Answer 4

statute will always prevail over prerogative powers

Question 5

no new prerogatives may be created- BBC v Johns

Answer 5

‘the limits within which the executive can impose obligations or restraints on citizens of the uk without any statutory authority are now well settled and incapable of any extension…. it is 350 years and a civil war too late for the queen’s courts to broaden the prerogative’

Question 6

R v SS for the Home Dept. ex parte Northumbria Police Authority

Answer 6

though the police act 1964 gave specific powers in relation to providing equipment for the police to the police authority, it did not extinguish the home secretary’s powers to provide equipment, including water cannon, in order to enable the police to maintain the queen’s peace

Question 7

GCHQ CASE

Answer 7

▪ illegality
▪ irrationality (unreasonableness)
▪ procedural impropriety

Question 8

Modernisation of the Prerogative (3 Statutes)

Answer 8

• Crown Prerogatives (House of Commons Control) Bill 1988- placing the royal prerogative on a statutory basis
• Human Rights Act 1998s.6(1)- it is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a convention right
• Crown Prerogatives (Parliamentary) Control Bill 1999 - makes the exercise of certain crown prerogatives subject to the approval of the house of commons